Comparison to 97 bowl game

[LegionnaireOfTheMiserable]

Put some brakes on the negativity and consider the attached….

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But I thought Michigan winning last year and Bob Kesling retiring the year they changed the championship format meant that we were supposed to win this year? It’s almost as if tangential connections to events from over 25 years ago don’t really mean much to current day happenings.

We did open up 1998 with a game against Syracuse in a dome though…

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

Comparing this to 1997 just isn't realistic, and I'd probably go as far as to say its farcical. Tennessee was a juggernaut in the 1990s, and their roster was loaded and stacked year and year out for a while there.

When people talk about a team that "gets off the bus looking bigger and nastier," that was Tennessee back then. And while John Chavis had his problems, he almost always had excellent linebackers starting and more being taught in the wings. Tennessee was turning out a lot of quality defensive players back then.

I'm not saying Tennesse is bereft of talent or anything, but 1997? Nah. 1990s Tennessee was a championship level program in terms of talent, led by a staff that just couldn't figure out how to beat Steve Spurrier. Though to be fair to them, most people couldn't figure out how to beat Steve Spurrier.

Some of those ultra talented squads got boat raced too

 

[GVF]

Lest we forget the most glaring dagger we had to overcome saturday. We had to follow a Michigan home loss to a horrible UM team. They been taking crap from their fans for 2 weeks or better in ways we can't fathom even with the idiots we have on VN. Howard said he couldn't even go eat at the diner. Now, they may get throttled by UO. Who knows. But, they were in no way interested in ending this season with an SEC loss at home after losing at home to UM.

 

[05_never_again]

The 1997 team had a way more impressive resume than the 2024 team. In 1997, we beat:

- a UCLA team in Pasadena that finished 10-2/#5
- an Ole Miss team that finished 8-4/#22
- a UGA team that finished 10-2/#10 (and beat UF by 20, who beat us)
- a Southern Miss team that finished 9-3/#19
- an Auburn team that finished 10-3/#11
- won the SECCG

Our schedule looked better and better as that season went on. Of those teams we beat above, only UGA, Southern Miss, and Auburn were ranked at the time we played them.

We also had a QB who should have won the Heisman and was the #1 pick in the next draft, a CB (Terry Fair) taken in the first round of that draft, and a first round WR (Marcus Nash) in that draft. This team has none of that. That's not even mentioning the guys who were drafted in subsequent drafts. That 1997 Nebraska team was way better than 2024 Ohio St.

 

[GVF]

It's ridiculous really. You have a 6 foot 6 qb who can see everything in front of him and they just don't attack the middle of the field enough. I'm really starting to think Heupel is going to have to bring in a real OC and turn it over to them.

It's tough IMO to keep that up. Name slips my mind at the moment, but some other HC that refused to give up play calling, finally did this year and turned it over to an OC. I also think he over protected Nico all season. Not gonna grow if you don't fertilize.

 

[GVF]

The 1997 team had a way more impressive resume than the 2024 team. In 1997, we beat:

- a UCLA team in Pasadena that finished 10-2/#5
- an Ole Miss team that finished 8-4/#22
- a UGA team that finished 10-2/#10 (and beat UF by 20, who beat us)
- a Southern Miss team that finished 9-3/#19
- an Auburn team that finished 10-3/#11
- won the SECCG

Our schedule looked better and better as that season went on. Of those teams we beat above, only UGA, Southern Miss, and Auburn were ranked at the time we played them.

We also had a QB who should have won the Heisman and was the #1 pick in the next draft, a CB (Terry Fair) taken in the first round of that draft, and a first round WR (Marcus Nash) in that draft. This team has none of that. That's not even mentioning the guys who were drafted in subsequent drafts. That 1997 Nebraska team was way better than 2024 Ohio St.

From what I saw, this OSU team had a QB, a receiver, a TB (Plus Judkins), and Sawyer. Lock down either of those 5 and game over. Seems as though team desire was left in the lockerroom for this game.